System and method for generating an advertising schedule

• US 20070113244A1
• Filed: 11/14/2005
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NBC Universal Media LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NBC Universal Media LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Verschueren, Benjamin, Rabinowitz, David, Roy, Monique, Woellmer, Michael, Angelovich, Stephen, Doraski, Sara
• Application Number:
  US11/273,770
• Publication Number:
  US 20070113244A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/06 Arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/66 for using the result on distributors' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2547 Third Party Billing, e.g. billing of advertiser
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25883 being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address arrangements for identifying locations of users in broadcast systems H04H60/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26258 for generating a list of items to be played back in a given order, e.g. playlist, or scheduling item distribution according to such list retrieval of multimedia data based on playlists G06F16/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems

Abstract

A system for generating an advertising schedule is provided. The system comprises a data source and one or more computers connected to the data source. The computers are configured to execute one or more applications related to the generation of an advertising schedule. The system further comprises a network connecting the one or more computers and the data source. The one or more applications are executed on the one or more computers and interact with the data source to automatically generate the advertising schedule based on an inventory of available advertising slots characterized by a projected audience and one or more scheduling criteria for each advertisement to be scheduled.

Claims

1. A method for generating an advertising schedule, the method comprising:

automatically generating an advertisement schedule based on an inventory of available advertising slots characterized by a projected audience and one or more scheduling criteria for each advertisement to be scheduled.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the inventory of available advertising slots is on one or more broadcast networks.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the inventory of available advertising slots is on one or more broadcast mediums.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the projected audience comprises at least one of television viewers, radios listeners, and Internet users.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more scheduling criteria is generated based on a desired number of audience members having one or more desired demographic attributes.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining at least one of a viewing trend, an advertising rate, or projected ratings for aired programming content that comprises the advertisement schedule.

7. The method of claim 6, comprising determining the scheduling criteria based on one or more of the viewing trends, advertising rate, or projected ratings.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising automatically generating the advertising schedule based on at least one of the scheduling criteria, the inventory of available advertising slots or the projected ratings.

9. The method of claim 8, comprising comparing a set of actual program ratings with the scheduling criteria.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising optimizing the fulfillment of the scheduling criteria and maximizing the revenue generated based on the comparison.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising broadcasting the generated advertisement schedule in conjunction with the program schedule.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating and broadcasting a plurality of advertising schedules to a plurality of broadcast networks.

13. A system for generating an advertising schedule, the system comprising:

a data source;

one or more computers connected to the data source, wherein the one or more computers are configured to execute one or more applications related to the generation of an advertising schedule; and

a network connecting the one or more computers and the data source, wherein the one or more applications executed on the one or more computers interact with the data source to automatically generate the advertising schedule based on an inventory of available advertising slots characterized by a projected audience and one or more scheduling criteria for each advertisement to be scheduled.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more computers comprise one or more workstations, servers, or mainframes.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the inventory of available advertising slots is on one or more broadcast networks.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the inventory of available advertising slots is on one or more broadcast mediums.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the projected audience comprises at least one of television viewers, radios listeners, and Internet users.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the scheduling criteria are generated based on a desired number of audience members having one or more desired demographic attributes.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more applications determine at least one of a viewing trend, advertising rate or projected ratings for aired programming content that comprises the advertisement schedule.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the one or more applications are configured to determine the scheduling criteria based on one or more of the viewing trends, the advertising rate or the projected ratings.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more applications automatically generate the advertising schedule based on at least one of the scheduling criteria, the inventory of available advertising slots or the projected ratings.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the one or more applications comprise comparing a set of actual program ratings with the scheduling criteria.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising optimizing the fulfillment of the scheduling criteria and maximizing the revenue generated based on the comparison.

24. The system of claim 21, further comprising broadcasting the generated advertisement schedule in conjunction with the program schedule.

25. The system of claim 21, further comprising generating and broadcasting a plurality of advertising schedules to a plurality of broadcast networks.

26. A method for generating an advertising schedule, the method comprising:

determining at least one of a viewing trend, an advertising rate or projected ratings for programming content to be aired;

determining one or more scheduling criteria for one or more advertisements to be scheduled based on the viewing trend, the advertising rate or the projected ratings; and

automatically generating an advertising schedule based on at least one of the one or more scheduling criteria, an inventory of available advertising slots or the projected ratings.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising comparing a set of actual program ratings with the scheduling criteria.

28. The method of claim 26 comprising broadcasting the generated advertisement schedule in conjunction with the program schedule.

29. The method of claim 26 further comprising generating and broadcasting a plurality of advertising schedules to a plurality of broadcast networks.

30. A computer readable media, comprising:

routines adapted to generate an advertisement schedule based on an inventory of available advertising slots characterized by a projected audience and one or more scheduling criteria for each advertisement to be scheduled.

31. A computer readable media, comprising:

routines adapted to determine at least one of a viewing trend, an advertising rate or projected ratings for programming content to be aired;

routines adapted to determine one or more scheduling criteria for each advertisement to be scheduled based on the viewing trend, the advertising rate or the projected ratings; and

routines adapted to automatically generate the advertising schedule based on at least one of the one or more scheduling criteria, an inventory of available advertising slots or the projected ratings.